Friday, 18 March 2016

Sinkhole in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, forces residents to flee homes.

Residents of a street in the village of Plains in North Lanarkshire have been forced to flee their homes after a sinkhole opened up on the road overnight between Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 17 March 2016. The hole is about 10 m wide and about 3 m deep, and has not at this time caused structural damage to any homes at this time; the evacuations have been carried out in case there is damage to underground gas or water mains or the sinkhole expands further.

Sinkholes
are generally caused by water eroding soft limestone or unconsolidated
deposits from beneath, causing a hole that works its way upwards and
eventually opening spectacularly at the surface. Where there are
unconsolidated deposits at the surface they can infill from the sides,
apparently swallowing objects at the surface, including people, without
trace.

The cause of the Plains sinkhole has not yet been established, though it is thought to ba associated with heavy rainfall in the area earlier this week, which may have affected old mine-workings beneath the area.

Ground
collapses thought to be associated with old mine workings, collapsed
mines or mine entrances, unsealed mine entrances or gas or water
emissions from old mine workings in the UK can be reported to the Coal Authorityhere.

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About Me

Studied Palaeobiology & Evolution at the University of Portsmouth, Geosciences via the Open University & Ecology and Conservation at Christchurch University, Canterbury.
Have worked in wildlife based tourism, mineral exploration, development, conservation, education & environmental chemistry. Occasionally write articles for papers and magazines.

This Blog would be impossible without the work of countless scientists (and others) throughout the world. Where possible I do my best to credit them, but there will always be many more who remain unmentioned; this does not imply I am ungrateful for their contributions. Any errors or inaccuracies are, of course, my own.